SingTel divests its entire stake in Far EasTone (Singapore)
Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) announced that it has divested its entire 3.98 per cent equity interest in Taiwan’s Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Ltd.
A total of 129,571,696 shares were sold at an average price of $2.1 per share, for a cash consideration of approximately $272.8 million. The transaction was by way of an on-market sale. SingTel will recognise a gain of approximately $95 million in the first quarter ending 30 June 2012.
Telecom operators in Taiwan to launch cloud-based business (Taiwan)
According to a report by China Economic Review, telecom operators in Taiwan are looking to launch new cloud-based products in an attempt to better compete with one another and increase their market share in the nation.
As per the report, Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd., the island’s largest telecom service provider, is planning to launch new products next week, focused on individual consumers, while rival operator Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. Ltd. is targeting the enterprise customer base.
However, Taiwan Mobile Co. Ltd. has been focusing on both retail and institutional customers to penetrate the local cloud technology-based market.
Taiwan to Implement 4G service by July 2013 (Taiwan)
The mobile industry in Taiwan hopes to begin the implementation of fourth-generation (4G) wireless standards in July 2013, in an attempt to enhance the broadband penetration across the island, as reported by Taiwan today.
Su Herng, National Communications Commission (NCC) Minister, has said that the Cabinet has greenlighted their plan for implementing 4G telecom standards. Further, the issuing of licenses will be completed by June 2014. Su also said that as part of this process, the NCC is consulting with the private sector and all relevant parties, as well as mapping out complementary measures addressing the needs of business and the public.
The minister also added that the NCC remains flexible on technologies adopted by local operators in developing and delivering their services. Su further said that a task force had been set up to oversee the project, claiming that their goal is to cut the process to 90 days and assist these firms meet market demand.
The commission has also asked mobile network operators in the country to work towards a text messaging system that can send warnings to subscribers during national emergencies.
HTC reports 20 percent decline in sales (Taiwan)
Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC Corp. has reported a 20 percent decline in its consolidated sales in November this year as compared to the previous year, causing its share price to drop significantly. According to reports, the stock price fell to US$ 14.1 (TW$ 428) the lowest price this year.
Increasing competition from global players like Apple and Samsung has led to decreasing profit margins for the company. Further, industry analysts reportedly claim with these manufacturers gaining a larger customer base with each product launch, the market share of HTC may decline in the next few quarters.
As per sources, HTC Corp.’s consolidated revenue declined to US$ 1.02 billion in November this year.
HTC cuts revenue forecast for fourth-quarter (Taiwan)
Taiwan based smartphone maker HTC Corp., has reportedly cut its fourth-quarter revenue forecast due to increasing competition from Apple Inc. and Samsung, along with the global economic crisis. According to reports, HTC’s shares dropped 6.9 percent to reach its lowest value in over a year to US$ 17.21 (NT$ 526) in Taipei.
The company sales have been witnessing a decline with stiff competition from Samsung smartphones. As per sources, industry analysts claim that the decline in sales in the US market have played a significant part in HTC’s forecast announcement, as the company had managed to become the largest smartphone vendor for US in the third quarter.
HTC had initially predicted the fourth-quarter results to grow 30 percent to $4.4 billion, but later announced that the revenue for the quarter ending December 2011 would be flat as compared to the previous year. Further, the company is also reviewing the acquisition of S3 graphics, after the firm lost the patent infringement case against Apple.
Taiwan aims to auction 4G licenses by 2013 (Taiwan)
The Taiwanese government is planning to commence its 4G auction schedule two years ahead of schedule, by 2013 in an attempt to enable operators to launch their LTE services by 2015, as suggested by reports. Sources reveal that these allocations are expected to be in either the 700 MHz or the 2.6 GHz bands and may be released together with the 900MHz and 1.8GHz spectrum.
According to reports, the ministry would need to reach an agreement to replace the 700-MHz band as the spectrum is currently allocated to the military. As revealed by sources, the advance in Taiwan’s LTE schedule may hint at the country’s shift in focus from Wimax technology to LTE.
China Mobile launches new daily data roaming package (Asia)
China Mobile, the world’s leading mobile phone operator, has reportedly launched a new daily data roaming tariff package for its users. The company had earlier introduced a package offering reduced international roaming tariffs for voice, text messages and mobile data across 23 countries and regions.
According to reports, currently, the new tariff plan has been launched in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea and Thailand, and is largely aimed at international travelers using their mobile handset to surf the internet. As per sources, customers subscribing to the daily data tariff package can access unlimited roaming data in specific operator networks for a daily fixed charge while roaming in any of the aforesaid places. Further, reports suggest that the per day charge for the service will be around $14 in Hong Kong as compared to $15.3 payable at the other places.
Chunghwa Telecom and China Telecom join hands to augment Wi-Fi roaming service (Taiwan)
The Taiwan based Chunghwa Telecom joins hands with China based China Telecom so as to cooperate with each other and facilitate the launch of Wi-Fi mobile internet roaming service.
Chunghwa Telecom stated that the increasingly popular adoption of smartphones and tablet computers coupled with the cross-strait communications and exchanges getting more frequent mean that the demands going to jump in terms of cross-strait voice and data roaming services. Earlier, Chunghwa Telecom was seen lowing voice roaming fees, in addition to offering data roaming choice based policies. As on August 2011, the network operator had also started offering Wi-Fi mobile Internet roaming services.
Data released by the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan, in 2010 revealed that there were as many as 2.42 million mainland visitors to Taiwan, representing an increase of 60% based on the figures in the previous year. Apparently, meeting the customers’ demands for mobile, fast, stable, and cost-effective Internet roaming service are the primary concerns of Chunghwa Telecom’s development of Wi-Fi roaming service with the Chinese mainland operator.
In addition, it has been announced by Chunghwa Telecom that Taiwan based users travelling to China mainland stand to take advantage of China Telecom’s Wi-Fi Internet service at the rate of $.31 per minute. Previously, the rate for international mobile Internet roaming was between $0.78 and $1.25 per minute.
Chunghwa Telecom has plans for setting up 20,000 Wi-Fi hot spots in the pipeline across Taiwan, before the close of this year. Meanwhile, China Telecom will provide preferential Wi-Fi service to its CDMA users. So far, China Telecom has developed 120,000 Wi-Fi hot spots while it plans to establish one million additional hot spots over the next three years.
Motorola Mobility unveils new Android based smartphone (US)
Motorola XT531, the new Android based smartphone unveiled by Motorola Mobility will be available at the start of this autumn; specifically in Hong Kong, Taiwan and select countries in Europe and Latin America.
The smartphone runs on the Android 2.3 also, known as Gingerbread, the latest version of this mobile platform; boasts of a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with built in flash.
The Moto Switch user interface built into the Motorola XT531, facilitates personalization options, and enables users to seamlessly switch between friend and work-centric modes.
According to Fei Liu, senior vice president, mass market consumer products, Motorola Mobility, smartphones have become integral, personal parts of users’ lives; the reason why Motorola believes smartphones should be fun, fashionable and feature-packed. In addition, Motorola XT531 is being put across as an affordable device that gives young, fast-moving users everything they want from a top-quality smartphone.
The marketing name for the Motorola XT531 will be Motorola FIRE XT and Motorola SPICE XT in Europe and Latin America respectively. Across select Asian regions, the Motorola XT531 will be available as single-SIM and dual-SIM models whilst the dual-SIM model will be available starting this autumn.
HTC slants toward Android patents negotiation table if Apple offers one (US)
Taiwan based HTC thinks it better to somewhat shift its standpoint with respect to the patent lawsuit involving Apple; HTC are now ready to talk into a settlement with Apple.
In a recent ruling, Apple had emerged victorious with regard to two patents (out of 10), HTC was allegedly infringing. On the other hand, HTC had added to its arsenal of patent portfolio by acquiring S3 Graphics for $300 million. Incidentally, S3 Graphics had held patents that Apple was determined to be infringing.
According to Winston Yung, HTC’s chief financial officer, they have to sit down and figure it out while they are open to having discussions. In addition, Yung stated that any formal talks to have been ongoing are not in his knowledge.
